Ivory Coast power struggle, violence prompts protest in Chicago

While most of the world’s attention was focused on
Northern Africa – uprisings in Algeria, Egypt and now Libya – other parts of
Africa have been in turmoil.

Unrest in the Ivory Coast brought about a protest in Chicago this week.

“We want freedom in our land!”

Protestors chanted the words of independence for
the country’s former president, Laurent Gbagbo, to be released from prison and restored
to power.

Gbagbo refused to step down from presidency during
months of violence after a November 28 run-off election against rival Alassane
Outtara. Reports vary on casualties, but the latest figures say 3,000 have been
killed, and about a million people displaced.

U.N. and French troops were in a 15-day conflict
with Gbagbo and he was finally arrested on April 11, when he was forcibly
removed from his home.

“The French soldiers and U.N. soldiers will help
Alassane rebels to push the election freedom away,” said Sekre Kouakou,
organizer of the rally.

The rally organized by a non-profit group that
supports Gbagbo and gathered Tuesday at the French Consulate on North Michigan
Avenue.

Kouakou is from the eastern part of the Ivory
Coast and has been a U.S. citizen for five years.

The dispute stems from an act after the election,
when the Electoral Commission of the Ivory Coast missed the deadline to declare
election results. The official papers were taken away from an official who was about
to read them on live television.

On Dec. 2, election officials declared Outtara winner. However,
the Constitutional Council, which has final authority in elections,ruled this
illegal and voided about 500,000 votes from areas loyal to Outtara, making
Gbagbo the winner.

Under a 2007 peace deal, the United Nations is
supposed to confirm election results. The U.N. in turn rejected the
council’s declaration of Gbagbo as the winner.

So how does this dispute find its way to Michigan Avenue?

Gilbert Lohoua, a Chicago resident from the western
part of the Ivory Coast, said he is unhappy about what he sees as outside
interference.

“France has no place in this situation,” he said
as he stood outside its consulate in Chicago, site now of two protests.

“This is the matter of the Ivorian people,” he added. “We don’t want anyone
to get involved in the presidential election.”

Lohoua, a U.S. citizen since 2005, said he has
been unable to get in contact with his siblings and other family who are still
back home.

“I don’t know if my family got a chance to flee
the country or if they got caught,” he said.

Lohoua said his town has been one of the hardest
hit in the conflict.

Another protester, Patrice Beda, from Abidjan, the
former official Ivory Coast capital, said the French have incentives to
interfere in the nation.

“Why do the French have such interest in the
election? Because they want oil.”

According to the World Factbook, the Ivory Coast
produced nearly 59,000 barrels of oil a day in 2009, ranking it 60th in world
oil production.

“It’s a win-win situation. The French get
what they want and Outtara gets power,” Beda said. “That’s what happens in
African countries.”

Lohoua said he wants Gbagbo to be freed from
prison and all the killing to stop.The Chicago protestors said they will meet about
once every two weeks in front of the consulate urging action.